Hey folks, Harry here... Got a call today from Paul Dini... actually, it was the call that woke me up. Usually when I hear Paul's voice it is filled with joy and happiness and we talk about great fun stuff we love. Today, his voice was just profoundly sad. WARD KIMBALL had died.

You have to understand something about Dini and I to understand just how sad that sentence is. The single cartoon that binds Paul Dini and I as very close friends is PECOS BILL. One of the beautiful Disney Tall Tales cartoons... but more than that, PECOS BILL is simply perfection. Tall Tales have a very important place for both Paul and I. And PECOS BILL is the reason. Now, I'm not saying that I've told Tall Tales, perish the thought, every word about Time Travel and pissing jelly beans after arriving at your destination have been absolutely true, so help me Pecos. And Paul Dini's recent comic... MUTANT, TEXAS The Adventures of Ida Red is Paul's Tall Tale about a redheaded sweetheart of a cowgirl in a land of talking armadillos and giant jaguars!Ward Kimball was the chief animator that brought Bill to life. He's the guy that animated Pecos' lips rolling-n-lighting that cigarette while riding Widowmaker prior to the current Disney Gestapo digitally removing it! Kimball had a zany nature to his work, a grand exaggeration that made the facial work just come to life.

Pecos Bill is one example, his Mad Hatter from ALICE IN WONDERLAND is another. Ed Wynn's voice was amazing, but Kimball's direction of the Very Happy Un-Birthday sequence is simply as madcap and insane as anything committed to film. If you ever had the good fortune of meeting Ward, you knew where his characters got those wild faces... you need look no further than Ward himself. What a face, and when he developed wearing those signature Herbie The Fat Fury eyeglasses of his, and those wild outfits... You knew you were looking at the founder of the FIREHOUSE FIVE PLUS TWO!

Can you forget Ward's CHESHIRE CAT? People often times say the most famous smile ever was that of the Mona Lisa... When I think of the word smile, I think of that psychodelic feline spreading those teeth cheek to invisible cheek!

His greatest work? Well, I'd argue all day long that PECOS BILL was the top ace in a loaded deck of achievements, but really... I must humbly acknowledge that the man that gave life to Pinnochio's conscience... JIMINY CRICKET... When you think of perfect animation, design, life, laughter and grace in the field of animation... Jiminy Cricket is about as amazing as they come. The man that put Jiminy to bed in that matchbox, that really transformed those tattered clothes into the dapper doodads that he strutted in. The one that really gave Jiminy the jump in his leap and the gold badge upon his chest... Ward Kimball is dead.

If I could be anywhere at this moment, it would be upon that train in Disneyland... Ward was a train nut, he got lots of the animators addicted to them... and he infused that love into Walt himself... But instead, I'm gonna watch THREE CABALLEROS and watch that title number he designed spring to life and dazzle me, I'll watch his animation of Donald and I'll cry. Animators are man's best chance at being a god, they give life to that which can not live, they give soul to sheets of acetate, paper and a bit of graphite. The lives that Ward Kimball gave us are immortal, his work and influence will never perish. Now here's Father Geek

Father Geek here with another sad death to report... Joe Friday just sent me the following off the PRNewswire... I'm just too shook to add anything, this man has touched us all... I'm going to retreat into my beautiful 16mm print of FANTASIA, and remember a truely great great talent... a real icon of the cinema.

Here's what the wire service had to say...

Ward Kimball, Academy Award(R)-Winning Disney Animator/Director Who Brought Life to Mickey Mouse, Jiminy Cricket, The Cheshire Cat, The Mad Hatter And The Three Caballeros,' Dies at Age 88

Pioneering Artist Was One of Walt Disney's 'Nine Old Men,' Founding Member Of 'Firehouse Five' Jazz Group and Ran His Own Private Railroad

BURBANK, Calif., July 8 /PRNewswire/

In addition to his major accomplishments in the field of animation, Kimball was a founding member of the popular jazz group, The Firehouse Five Plus Two. He played trombone and led some of his fellow Disney employees in the legendary Dixieland band, which recorded albums, played concerts and appeared both on television and in films. As a railroad enthusiast, he was among a tight-knit group at the Studio who stoked Walt's interest in trains. Kimball, with his wife Betty, built America's first privately operated full-size backyard railroad, called Grizzly Flats R.R., in 1938. Starting with a 64,000-pound coal-burning locomotive, a wooden passenger car and over 900 feet of track, Kimball added to the collection over the years and went on to build a museum of miniature trains as well. In 1992, he donated part of his railroad to the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California.

Roy E. Disney, vice chairman of The Walt Disney Company, noted, "Ward's passing is a tremendous loss to the animation community and to our Studio. He was a brilliant animator and filmmaker with a distinctive style and humor all his own. From his contributions to the re-design of Mickey Mouse in 1938 and his animation on such classics as 'Snow White,' 'Pinocchio,' and 'Dumbo,' to his unbounded imagination on the trilogy of programs devoted to space exploration and his award-winning shorts, Ward has left his artistic mark on all of us. He was a wonderful character himself and as entertaining in real life as the ones he created on screen. He was a remarkable talent and we will miss him enormously."

Animation historian/author and film critic Leonard Maltin added, "To the end of his days, Ward had a pixie-ish spirit that was irresistible. He had the soul of an artist and an innate sense of humor that came through in his work, his hobbies and his outlook on life. And he was always fun to be around. Ward Kimball was truly one-of-a-kind."

Kimball first came to the Disney Studios in 1934, when his interest in Mickey Mouse shorts led him to apply for a job there. Following a stint as an animator on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," he developed the character of Jiminy Cricket for "Pinocchio," and was then promoted to animation supervisor on "Dumbo," "Fantasia," "Saludos Amigos," "The Three Caballeros," "Alice in Wonderland," "Cinderella" and "Peter Pan."

From 1951-1953, in addition to his regular duties, Kimball headed an experimental animation group that produced the first 3-D cartoon, "Melody," and the Academy Award(R)-winning "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom," the first cartoon in Cinemascope.

During the early days of television, Kimball wrote and directed three landmark shows for the "Disneyland" TV series that explored the science and fantasy of space travel. Working with scientists Willy Ley, Heinz Haber and Wernher von Braun, Kimball's first effort was the 1955 program, "Man in Space." "Man and the Moon" followed later that year and "Mars and Beyond" landed in 1957. This trilogy of shows is often credited with giving impetus to the government's space program and popularizing the concept with the American public.

Among his other Disney credits, Kimball contributed to the script for the 1961 Disney musical live-action fantasy, "Babes in Toyland." He also produced and directed 43 episodes of the Disney syndicated series, "The Mouse Factory," which began airing in 1972. For Epcot Center, Kimball helped to design and create the "World of Motion" attraction for the 1982 Future World attraction.

Kimball is survived by his wife of 66 years, Betty. The couple has three children as well as five grandchildren (Katy Kimball Windsor, Sarah Kimball, Nathaniel Lord, Christopher Lord, Laurey Foulkes Border) and two great grandchildren (Jarrod Lord and Coralie Border).

Services will be private with plans for a remembrance to be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to any of the following: Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA); Ward Kimball Memorial Fund (California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, CA); The Cartoon Art Museum (San Francisco, CA); or the Orange Empire Railroad Museum (Perris, CA).

Father Geek back, Just Click Here to visit Ward's phantastic Filmography.